MOONING

Even though the new TV season has begun, I'd like to take the opportunity (since this is a new blog) to look back on one aspect of a series which came to its conclusion in May.

'Frasier' has ended its 11 year run, and Daphne Moon is now Mrs. Niles Crane. But at heart she'll always be a Moon. Most of the Moons still reside in England (although Uncle Jackie lives in San Francisco where he is a transvestite vicar.)

Over the course of the series, we met a lot of those Moons, most notably her parents and some of her brothers (especially Simon!) But there's one Moon cousin who is still appearing on TV even though 'Frasier' has left the building. He's never been to Seattle, (so far as I can tell), and more than likely he's been far from the East End of London.

His name is Spencer Moon, a barman at the Queen Vic Pub in Watford Square, and he'll be twenty next year.('Eastenders')

We know he can't be one of Daphne's brothers; Daphne told us all of their names - Billy, Simon, Nigel, David, Peter, Stephen, and Michael Moon. And we know Spencer only has a brother named Alfie.

I suppose we could always say Spencer and Alfie are Daphne's nephews. It's possible one of her brothers sired Spencer. (Well, maybe not Billy.... nudge nudge wink wink!)

After all, of her eight brothers we only met Simon, Nigel, Michael, and Stephen. And even one of them could be the father, maybe even outside the sanctity of marriage.

But I'd rather avoid making the family connection to Daphne that close - sooner or later 'Eastenders' might introduce Spencer's parents on the show, or at the very least mention their first names.

As far as I can tell, the only other relatives to be mentioned or seen for Spencer (besides his brother Alfie) are his second cousin Maxwell and his grandmother, whom he calls 'Nana'.

Daphne had plenty of aunts and uncles. So I'm going out on a wing of that Moon Family tree and say that one of those aunties is also Spencer's Nana. Perhaps one day we'll learn what her first name is, and it just might match up with the name for one of Daphne's aunts.

And if so, then we'll have a direct link between 'Frasier' and 'Eastenders'.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"Every family has a skeleton in the closet. It's just a matter of finding the proper key."

John Drake

'Secret Agent'